The summer is already shaping up to be a hot one for mobile users and now Sprint and Palm are turning up the heat early with the release-date announcement of Pre. The Internet rumor mill has been busy since Palm's award winning debut of Pre at CES. Even an Apple fanboy will have to admit that Pre has an impressive pedigree.

From the classically simple and productivity enhancing 3Com PalmPilot to the groundbreaking Handspring Visor with those cool Springboard modules to the diminutive but powerful Treo Pro of today, Pre has plenty of historical context to justify the buzz.

There is a whole lot to like about Palm's Pre and its disruptive webOS.  Physically, Pre does look a bit like a black polished river stone, but once you hold it in your hand you immediately realize that this design really is something different. Unlike many of its mobile phone cousins, Pre fits naturally in your hand and its large, bright touch screen draws you in to explore. Hidden away in its overall physical design is a slide out QWERTY keyboard...and, yes, it is possible to slide it out and type with one hand (or thumb, really), which makes updating my Twitter during meetings a little less disruptive to the guy presenting the 30 page PowerPoint deck...btw, ppt files render beautifully on Pre

Comparisons with its contemporaries are inevitable and there are sure to be techno-zealots on both sides, but all we mere mortals require is a device that let's us work the way we want and helps us keep our cool.  Will Palm Pre be the answer? Stick with me this summer and let's find out together.

Read more about Pre here:

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